First the Sunday People, then the Saturday People

"First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People" is a phrase attributed to the Arab world in the past.  It means that the Jews (the Saturday people) and then Christians (the Sunday people) were to be targeted as victims of jihad.

I thought of this phrase when I heard that Jews were rightly coming out against colleges and read the opinion piece in the NY Times called “What Is Happening on College Campuses Is Not Free Speech”.  It was written by three students at Yale, Cornell, and Brown.

These three wrote the following:

“All students have sacred rights to hold events, teach-ins and protests. And university faculty members must present arguments that make students uncomfortable. University campuses are unique hubs of intellectual discovery and debate, designed to teach students how to act within a free society. But free inquiry is not possible in an environment of intimidation. Harassment and intimidation fly in the face of the purpose of a university… Simply affirming that taunts and intimidation have no place on campus isn’t enough. Professors violating these rules should be disciplined or dismissed. Student groups that incite or justify violence should not be given university funds to conduct activity on campus.”

This op-ed was written in response to the pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism at American universities.  It is indicative of the feelings of many American Jews and I agree with them whole-heartedly.  That said, I wonder what took them so long.

Did they write this article when conservatives were attacked and assaulted at universities? Did they write this article when U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan attempted to speak at a Stanford event and was shouted down by protestors? Did they write this article when former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines was barricaded in a room at San Francisco State University for nearly 3 hours after she was physically assaulted following a speech to students about saving women's sports?

In the case of universities, they came for the Sunday people first (in this case conservatives) and the Saturday people said nothing.  Now they are coming for the Saturday people.  Hopefully, the actions being taken now will ensure that all forms of discrimination at universities are eliminated going forward.